Thursday, November 27, 2008

Mom

Today is not only Thanksgiving, more importantly, it is my mom's birthday. For those of you who have had the opportunity to meet my mom know what an exceptional person she is. I have always believed that if I could be one tenth of the person - the mother she is, I will have reached success in my life. I haven't gotten there yet but I'm still trying.

My mom has the biggest heart of anyone I have ever met. She would do anything for her family and that includes her adopted family as well. Her adopted family consists of pretty much every student who walks into her office or anyone who has ever been to our house. She really has a genuine love and concern for all of the people around her. She is conscientious about leaving the world a better place than she found it.

Mom holding her most adorable child--me!

When I was a kid my mom worked 2 jobs, went to school for her master's degree and raised a family of five kids. She did it with love and patience and energy. She never missed a concert or play (front row with a huge smile on her face) and she was always available to talk if we needed her. I don't know how she was able to find the drive to keep going all of those years. Life was not exactly easy and I know she must have been lonely after the divorce. One of the happiest moments in my life is when she married Dwane and I knew she finally had found someone who could make her happy and who could match her in kindness and compassion.

The Day Mom Married Dwane

On Thanksgiving since I am not able to go home and be with my mom, I do the next best thing. I make mom's homemade yeast rising rolls. My mom makes these every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The process takes about 13+ hours since the rolls have to be allowed to rise twice. Mom wakes up in the middle of the night to shape the rolls so that we can have them for breakfast Thanksgiving and Christmas morning. If you have tried them before, you know that these rolls taste better than anything else in the world. Even though I make the rolls, mine never taste as good as Mom's. I am convinced that the love that Mom puts into her rolls make them taste better. That's just how she is.